Lately I have been hyper-aware of the fact that the world has nothing to offer us for eternity. Let me describe what I mean by “the world” and by “eternity.” If you are not a Latter-day Saint, a little background might help you understand what I am trying to illustrate.

“The world” is a term that I like to use for pretty much everything we see in our world. It includes the fashion magazines showing me which hairstyles and types of clothing I should be wearing this season. It includes the latest and greatest entertainment technology. It includes the many commercials and ads that bombard me at every turn, trying to interest me in buying the newest car or getting plastic surgery to enhance my appearance.  The world is basically the realm of everything that is offered by the world and available for purchase with money.

We have all heard the old saying that when you die you can’t take anything with you. This is an appropriate segway into my description of what is eternal. Eternally we can only take a few things.

We can take all the knowledge that we have gained in this lifetime. We will also have the same personality and attitude when we cross over into the after-life. If we have addictions here, we will still have them there, but it will be embarrassing and frustrating, since we will not be able to actually fulfill those addictions and, with futility, we will try anyway.  We will also have all of our relationships that we have here on the earth. That is why it is crucial to make sure our relationships are wholesome and respectful.  Since everyone we meet on this earth will live for eternity, it would do us well to take care of our relationships.

Being here in this world gives all of us an opportunity to sift through what is good and what is pointless, what is helpful and what is wicked. We have different situations we must endure and a plethora of decisions to make all along the way. Bad things do happen to good people, and what we do with those things is our test. It is also our opportunity to grow and become someone better than we were before that happened. If we mess up the first time around, Jesus Christ, our advocate with God Almighty, our Father in Heaven, has provided a way for us to change our ways and to get it right the next time.

If we live only in “the world,” we miss out on some of the greatest epiphanies that would have been ours if we had given some time and thought to our spiritual self and our spiritual well-being.   An “epiphany” is a sudden realization that changes the way we look at things, and many such moments of enlightenment come directly from God.

It does seem a little overwhelming that the God of heaven and earth is aware of me as an individual. Sometimes I just want to ignore that fact and bury myself in my work or in playing video games. I mean, for me to think that the same eternal and omnipotent God who created Cleopatra and Socrates and the dinosaurs and an unlimited amount of great leaders in history, also created me and knows me by name is just a bit over the top. He knew me before I was born. He knows me now. He knows all the stupid mistakes I have made. He knows what I am going to do next. He knows I am writing this article. He knows how and when I am going to die. He knows if I have love in my heart for my fellow man. When I kneel to pray to this God, the father of Jesus, my Heavenly Father, who knows everything about me (and you), I sometimes don’t know what to say. I figure I am wasting His time and mine because He already knows what I am going to say.

Am I going to ask for a new car or a good plastic surgeon? Should I ask for a lot of money to fall into my lap so I can buy a big house or a boat?  Do those things really matter when I am talking to the most illustrious of all beings in the Universe as we know it?

And here’s what I know to be true: I know that He hears my prayers. A reverent awe comes over me, as I recollect the many prayers which He has answered.  I have had many prayers answered that could not have been coincidence. I also know that when seemingly bad things have happened in my life, there was a reason for them. I know, in retrospect, that I grew from those experiences, even though at the time they were very hard to endure. The other day my sister said to me, “You seem very peaceful.” I think it is because I am realizing that most of what I normally worry about in this world is insignificant when I consider eternity and my eternal existence. I am learning to live with me and what I will take with me, when it is my time to meet God face to face.  I don’t think it will be very soon. I am just starting to get it.

So, when I say that the world has nothing to offer us for eternity, I mean that there is a bigger picture, if only we can let ourselves recognize God in our lives. He does love us. He does know us. And I saw a billboard by the side of the road last week that said “When we die, we will see God.” That’s all it said. What a great reminder that He is there for us and we will see Him again! How much it will make our lives more robust and full, if we can start to “see” that God is there for us and that the things of this world have little value in the long run, eternally.

“…representing the same strengths and values demonstrated by Army soldiers including loyalty, respect, honor, and integrity.”

Ryker has been officially invited to the prestigious Army football three-day learning experience featuring NFL and NCAA coaches, as well as to participate in game-week activities, culminating in the Army All-American Bowl scheduled for January 8^th, 2011 in San Antonio.

Last summer  Ryker participated at the Nike camp.  A  storm of division candidates and hopefuls blitzed around the playing field. One reporter stated:

“Among the top offensive lineman performers was Ryker Mathews. Mathews dominated in every category the camp had to offer. He was clearly the best offensive lineman in attendance.”

In spite of his imposing size and talent on the field, Ryker presents an unpretentious smile and genuine demeanor.  As one of the top linemen in the country, Ryker recently committed to play college ball for Brigham Young University.  He will transfer to the university mid-year to participate in spring practice for the 2011 season. Convinced to join the Cougars partly out of his respect for Coach Weber, Ryker said, “I love everything they have to offer. I love the atmosphere, the coaches, and the school. I have met some of the players and that also helped influence my decision.”

BYU students agree to adhere to a strict honor code which prohibits smoking, drinking, sexual liaisons, and cheating.  Ryker is comfortable with those standards, because he has always lived them.  His mother is most proud of the choices Ryker has made to bring him to this point.

At first, he thought his life was pretty much over because he could never be happy again or do anything important. But then he decided that if he was alive, he was going to be really alive. He was married and had children, so he went back to being a father and a husband. He even wrote a book.

His son was sixteen when the accident happened and was bodysurfing with his father when the accident happened. His life changed a lot too that day and many teens in his situation would probably think their life was pretty unfair now, too. He had to spend a lot of time taking care of his father. Probably there wasn’t as much money in the house either. Instead of whining though, he worked at getting really good at taking care of his dad and then decided to use those new skills by choosing to become a doctor working in emergency rooms. He noticed that his dad was willing to work hard and have a good attitude during trials, so when he faced trials of his own, he would remind himself to do the same.

How do you handle the hard stuff in your own life? Do you whine and feel sorry for yourself or do you look for a way to get something good out of it? I think most of us whine sometimes, but if that’s all we ever do, we’re really going to waste a great life. Mormon beliefs teach that God created us to have joy. That’s easy on the great days, but no one has great days all the time. The real test of how much we trust God to help us be joyful is on the bad days.

Would you be joyful if you knew you’d never be able to move again? What if you had to spend your teen years taking care of a disabled parent? What if you had to cope with a learning disability, or being poor, or losing a parent? None of those things are easy and it’s natural to be sad or even angry for a while about all those things. That’s called the grieving process and it’s important. But it’s also important that eventually, you move on and go back to being joyful, even if your circumstances don’t change.

The scriptures are full of stories of people, including teenagers, who had hard lives and went on to do great things. Sometimes having trials gives us that extra courage, strength, and motivation to do things we never thought we could, if we decide that’s what we’re going to let the trials do for us. Reading those stories and the stories of modern people with trials can give us examples to follow. Sometimes, when life is really too hard, we need to talk to a responsible adult, like a parent, church leader, or school counselor. Some problems really require some extra help.

Try it today. Whether your trials are big or small, choose one of them. Ask yourself what you could learn from the trial to make you a better person. Ask yourself if there is something in that trial that you can use to help others. (The author I mentioned wrote a book to help people like him and his son became a doctor to help people like his dad.)

Now decide how your attitude about your trial is going to have to change. For instance, I have learning disabilities. Instead of saying, “Oh, I have dysgraphia so I can’t do much,” I say, “I have dysgraphia. I can do anything other people do, but I might have to do it differently and work harder at it. But that’s fine. It will help me learn to find creative ways to solve problems and to learn not to give up when things are hard.”

Can you see how that attitude can change the way you attack your life? Attack it with joy and a great attitude and you’ll be surprised how much more fun it is to get up every morning.

Sometimes it’s fun to read those stories and wonder how we’d react in the same situation. Would we stay true to what we believe even when our lives were threatened? Would we continue to live the way God has taught us to live no matter how much pressure there was to stop living that way? Would we be cheerful in the face of adversity?

We may not be asked to walk across country or flee our home while murderers chase after us. Some of us won’t face open prejudice and hatred. And yet, there will always be people who think our standards are old-fashioned and stupid, and who will pressure us to give them up. The pressure might be less noticeable, less violent, but it is there. In many ways, it’s harder to fight the less fierce forms of prejudice and pressure than it is a mob with guns. It’s sometimes said that it’s not nearly as hard to die for our religion as it is to live for it.

What does that mean? It means that if someone says, “Deny your religion or I’ll kill you,” you are likely to find that moment of courage to say, “I won’t deny it.” You’ll die, but it only takes a moment of courage and then you’re with God. However, when someone pressures you day after day to smoke or drink or dress immodestly, when people all around you are swearing or cheating or gossiping, when everyone but you gets to go play on Sunday…that can be hard. The little day to day pressures can wear you down faster than a gun pointed at you for a few minutes.

Today’s pioneer is asked to blaze a new trail, not a physical one leading west, but a trail of faith and morality. There used to be one, but it’s become overgrown with weeds and brush and so-called civilization. It’s up to those of us who still care what God teaches to clear that path, get on it, and stay on it. We can set an example that will encourage our friends to join us. If enough people do that, there can be more people on the trail than off it.

There is a story in the book of Mormon about a man named Lehi. He saw a vision in which there was a beautiful tree that represented God’s love. Anyone who made his way to the tree and ate the fruit that grew on it would enjoy more happiness than anyone could imagine. There was a path and many people got on it. However, a deep fog came up and many got lost, wandering off the path. There was an iron rod, representing God’s word, that the walkers could grab onto. If they held on they couldn’t get lost. Not everyone did, but those who did got to the tree and ate the fruit.

But then something interesting happened. There was a large and fancy building on a hill nearby. At the windows of the building were people in fancy clothes and elegant hairstyles. They stood there making fun of all the people who ate the fruit. Some people wisely ignored them, but others got embarrassed at being made fun of. They rushed off the path and ran to the building to join the people in it. They became mockers, too, wanting to be part of the rich “popular” crowd more than they wanted to be part of God’s inner-circle. They were willing to give up all the eternal blessings of Heaven to get a few years of popularity.

How about you? If you were on that path, would you give in to the mocking or would you stay on that path and do what you knew was right? Would you settle for a lifetime of pretend happiness or hold out for an eternity of real joy, even if it meant being made fun of today? Are you willing to be lonely if necessary for a while, remembering that someday you’ll never be lonely again? Are you willing to put up with the teasing or a less popular crowd if that’s required? Most importantly, are you willing to hang on to a good attitude even when your trials aren’t your fault?

All those things can set an example for others. You’ll be the one leading the way and you may be surprised to discover others find themselves anxious to join you when they see how happy and fulfilled you are on your special path. You never know who is watching, so be brave and be a pioneer.